op milwaukee



Sept 1, 1925.

R, FURRER TIME INDIQATING DEVICE FOR METAL WORKING PRESSES l Fi led Nov.

i\\\lllll INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEYS. b

' ments Patented Sept. 1,1925.

UNITED STATES PATENTIYOFFICE."

RUDOLPH FUR-BER, 0F MILWAUKEE, WIsooNSIN, ASsIGNoR TOA. 0. SMITH conrocan- TION, or MILWAUKEE, WISooNsIN, A CO PORATION on NEW YORK.

TIME-INDICATING DEVICE FOR METAL-WORKING PRESSES.

Application. filed November 9, 1923. Serial No. 673,830;

To all whom it may concera:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH FURRER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee and State of Tisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvein Time-Indicating Devices for Metal-lVorking Presses; and I do declare the following to'be a clear, exact, and com plete description thereof, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which the invention pertains to make and use the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawing for an illustration of a construction in whlch my lnventlon has been en bodied.

The present invention relates to the op crating or driving meansfor the assembly of presses 1n the SlClG bar forming l ne disclosed in Patent No. 1,477 ,7 78, granted December 18, 1923, to R. Stanley Smith, in which sets, comprising curved right and left hand side bars for automobile or other vehicle frames, are produced in a regular se- But the invention is not quence of pairs. to be restricted to the use specified in the said patent. I

The said patent discloses, among other things, an assembly of co-operating presses which p'erforincertain preparatory or intermediate as well as the finishing operations in the process of converting sheet metal strips into curved, flanged side bars in their completed state. Suchpreparatory or inter mediate operations comprise the steps of bending the-metal strips in the direction of their width so as to increase the available area thereof and permit the cutting of curved blanks which ordinarily would require for their production strips of much greater width, removing the marginal portions of such strips so as to produce curved blanks of the desired contour, and perforating the said blanks for the accommodation of the rivets employed to {unite the elements of the frame in which such elements are em-. I

bodied in the formation of a permanent structure. The finishing operations consist in turning the side margins of the curved blanks so as to producecurved channels having spaced reinforcingfianges extended from the web atone side thereof.

The several presses of the line areoperated by a common drlvlng means in 1 but each press may be disconnected from" the line shaft and operated independently thereof, when adjustment of any of its parts, or a try-out prior to line operation,

' becomes necessary, For the purpose ofaccomplishing this independent. operation, each press is equipped'witha separate driving motor which is adapted to be coupled to the press to operate the latter when disconnected from the maindriving shaft.

After the separate presses have been tried out and found ready for connection to the line driving shaft, it is necessary that they first be lined up, so that when coupled to theline shaft, they will all operate in the allotted divisions of the time cycle.

The purpose of the present. invention is Y the provision of means for lining up or time indicating the presses, so that the cycles oftheir operation as a unit and their allotment to the fractions of the time cycle 'may be definitely ascertained and determined by bringing them into a position of register before couplingto the'line shaft.

The invention comprises a plurality of presses adapted for successive operation as a unit through an apportioned time cycle, and means for so operating them, together with means for operating them independently. j i 7 Viewed in another aspect, the invention also comprises devices which will indicate the timing of theseveral presses, so that by visualinspection. it may be determined whether the presses of the line are operating in the desired order.

The invention further comprises other features which will hereinafter be described more specifically. I The noveltyof the whole will be. pointed out in. the appended claims. Y

In theldrawing herewith: V v Figure 1 is a diagrammatic-plan view of a line of presses adapted to the production of curved flanged barsv from metal strips,

together with the line driving and indepenct ent driving means therefor.

Fig 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the means for driving one of the presses from the line as well as for driving the same independently, together with th-econnections which operate .the time indicating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a face viewlot the visua-Lind'icater of the timing mechanism.

In-thedrawing, the oifsettingpress is in- "dieated bythe letter A, the successively acting blanking presses by theiletters B and C, the piercing press by .the letter D and the forming presses for drawing the side bar flanges into shape by the letters .E

and 'F.

A main 1notor20. of sutficient power 'to carry the largest of the loads which may occur in the operation of the (assemblage, drivesia line or main shaft .21, and the latter 'throughbranch shafts 22,.drives the several pressescoupled in thetgroup as a unit. The line shaft 21 has-fixed thereon bevel gears 23, equal in number to thenumber ot'presses employed in the assemblage. The said-bevel gears 23 areain mesh with bevel gears 24- fixed upon the near ends of the said branch shafts At the other'end, eachshait't 22 isiprovidedwith a pinion 1-39, in engagement .with a gear 410 upon the operating shaft "tor drivingthe. press. Each branch shaft 22 is (termed ot-two aligned parts "25 and :26, one end of the part 25 being reduced-asst 2'7, and fitted loosely in a concentric bor -2R, in the contiguous end .ot the part 26. The two part shaft 'is supported in a housing 29 Uponand'near the other end of the part oft-lieshaft 22, and within g-29, is fastened a clutch hub ZO.

he .end ofithe part otthe va sliding clutchinember both said SllCllIlX- clutch vineinber .be-

to the presses as a group or unit through the coupled. parts .25 .and26 of the shaft 22.

Rotating loosely upon the pzarti26 of the shaft 22, and within ,the housing .29 .is a

gear wheel 33,. provided upon. oneffacc. there of with aclutch hub tthellattermbeing adapted to be engaged by the .cl-utclrface upon the otherend oi the sliding clutch member 32, when .the said sliding clutch member is thrown out'ofenga gement with the. clutch. hub 30.

Each press in the assemblage is provided with a small normally inoperativeindependent motor 35,iu on the.encl of the shaft of which is a pinion 36. .These smallfmotors will be ofv such-horse power as will enable them to separately operate the presses to which they .may be connected. Journilled in-the housing 29, is a shaft- 360, driven by a fixed gear 37, in engagement with the pinion 36, upon the end of the shaft 01" the motor 35. The said shaft 36O, has alsofixed thereon, a pinion 38, the latter being in mesh with the gear 33, rotating loosely upon the part 26 of the branch shaft 22. lVith the engagement of the clutch parts 32 and 3 the loose gear 33 becomes relatively fixed upon the part 26 of the shaft 22, and transmits motion to .the connectedv press, which in ay. thus be independently operated.

The double faced splined clutch member 32 may be moved along the shaft 22, to disengage the said clutch member from the clutch hub 30,.and while I have shown a hand lever 4-1 .for operatingthe clutch mechanism separately, it will be obvious that the clutch operating levers may be simultaneously actuated by a device which will throw all of the clutches into or out of engageinentin a singlemovement. hen all of the presses are coupled through their vclutches, they will be operated a unit'hy means of the line driving shaft 21, and when the clutches are thrown out, each'press may be operated independently by the small motor 35, provided theretor. Thesplined clutch member 32cannot be in engagement with both of the clutch'hubs 3-0 and 3-1 at the same time. but may occupy a position oi engagement with either clutch hub 30 or When the sliding clutch member 32 is thrown into engagement with the clutch hub 34 of the loosely rotating gear wheel 33, the auxiliary motor may t i 'ougi the connections described, impartto the particular press which is arr.- vto be driven by the said auxiliary Thisinoticn will take place while motor 20 and the line shaft 21 are at rest, and the smallrnotors may thus be in lependently driven for a trial of the press with an opportunity to perfect such ments asmay benecessary. before operat ing the assemblage asia whole. riii ter the presses have been testedand adjusted. the independently operating connections: will be disconnected and the shafts 22 will he clutched ftor operation by theiline shaft 21. Thepresses in the group-ma ynow he operatedias aunitibythe large motor 20.

.Affter the presses have been sep tested andadjusted, it is ncccssary'tha i i 7 be set so that when coupled to the main or line driving shaftl2l,thepre ses will oper crate inexact and predetermined time, each ,press performing its operation in thattrae 'tion of thetimecycleallotd for such operation. ,To enable the :worlring position of the severalipressesiin their relationto each other to be ascertainedfl,provide eechpres with a visual indicator, which will indir the position of the mechanism of the press at any moment. The shaftsection's and r 26 are provided with sprockets 42 and 43 tion is transmitted from the worm gear to the bevel gears through the tubular shaft also mounted in the stand 60. A disk '62 is mounted upon the end of a shaft which is journall-ed in the tubular shaft of the ring 61. This dish is driven from the shaft 49 by means of a small worm gear and bevel gear connection, the shaft connecting the last mentioned worm gear and bevel gears rotating in its companion tubular shaft as 7 shown in Fig. 2. The ring 61 and the dish "62 are designed to be operated with their indicators in exact registry, the dish 62 being provided with a marker 63 which points toward a marker 64 upon the-said ring.

The disks 62 and rings 61 are rotated in unison by means of the connections from the two parts 'of the shaft 22, when coupled together by the" clutch 32, but when the clutch is thrown out so'as to discoiineot t-he presses from the line shaft 21, the ring 61 will remain at rest by reason of the inactivity of the part 25 of the shaft 22. The disk 62 will always rotate in the movement of the press with which, it is associater, in'

'asmuch as the part 26 of tlie shaft 22 is rotated constantly, whether by the main motor 20 or 1 by the independent motor 35. lVhen the indicators upon the disk and'ring are properly'set,more inspection of the dcvice will indicate whether the press is operating in the desired'timiiig. The disk 62 may be provided with additional markers G5, which will indicate the extent of the displacement or lack of registry, if there be any, in the operation of the press. By

proper location of the additional markers 65, with reference to the speed of rotation of the parts the distance which the press will have to be turned to bring the parts again in correct registry, may be easily ascertained. The position of the presses thus being indicated, it will be aiieasy matter to turn over such of the presses as may be necessary to bring them into the relative positions which they are to occupywhile operating as a unit. This adjustment having been effected, the presses will then be operated from the line shaft 21, and in the order desired,'after the clutch members 32 have been shifted into engagement with the clutch faces 30, and the main motor 20 thrown into circuit.

The numeral 45 indicates the step-by-step conveyor mechanism, which may be as disclosed in the patent to R'SuSniith first hereinbefore referred to.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pate'nt'of'the United States, is:

1. In an apparatus of the character specified, a. line ofv presses adapted to perform progressively a series of preparatory opera tions' upon parts-forming elementsto effect completion of the latter, conveying devices for the elements, and line driving shaft for operatingall of the presses in. succession through an apportioned time cycle, in

combinationwitli means for disconnecting the presses from their operating line shaft, and devices associated with the presses for indicating the relative timing of the latter during their operation. 1 V

2. In an'apparatus of the character specified, a line of presses adapted to perform progressively a series of preparatory operations upon parts-forming'elements to effect completion of the latter, conveying devices for the elements, and a line driving shaft for operating all of the presses in succession through aii apportioned time cycle, in combination with means for disconnectingthe press-es from their operatingline shaft, and devices associated with the presses for indicating visually the. relative tin'ng of "the latter during their'operation,

3. A line of presses adjusted for successive and consecutive operation in an apportioned time cycle, means for operating such presses completion of the latter in the time cycle,

and a conveyor for feeding the elements from press to press, in combination with devices for disconnecting the presses from their 1 operating means, means for'separatcly operating the presses, and devices associated with'the presses for indicatingthe relative timing of the latter during their operation. 4-. In an apparatus of the character speci fied,'a line of presses adapted to perform a series of preparatory operations upon partsforming elements to effect completion of the latter, devices for conveying the elements from press to press, and a line driving shaft for joint. operating all of the presses, in combination with devices for disconnecting the presses from the line shaft,

means for operating the presses independ ently of each other for testing purposes, and means associated with each of the presses for indicating their relative timing when operated as a unit from the line shaft.

, Inan apparatus of the character specified, a line of presses adapted to perform'a series of preparatory operations upon partsforming elements to effect completion of the latter, devices for conveying the elements from press to press, a line driving shaft for jointly operating all of the presses, and

means associated with the several presses to indicate their relative timing when operated as a unitfrom the line shaft, in combination with clutch mechanisms'through whichithe presses may be disconnected from-theiline shaft to permit their independentoperation.

6. In an apparatus of the character specitied, a line of presses adapted to perform a series of preparatory operations'upon partsforming elements to effect completion of the 'latter, devices for conveying the elements from press to press, a line driving shaft for form a succession of preparatory operations upon parts-forming elements to effect completion of the latter, devices for conveying the elements from press to press, a line driving shaft for jointly operating all of the presses, means including rotating -indicators associated with each of the presses for indicating the time of their operation with relation to each other, in combination with branch shafts connecting the line driving shafts with the several presses, connections from-the branch shafts to effect rotation of the indicators, and means for disconnecting the presses from the line shaftto permit their independent operation.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a plurality of presses and a line shaft for operating them jointly, an indicating device composed of two rotating parts associated with each press for indicating the time of the operation'ofthepresses with relationto each other, connections ractuated from the'line :shaft for rotating the parts of the indicator in unison, and means for conveying the parts-forming elements from pressto press, in combination with devices for effecting disconnection ofthe several presses from the line shaftrto permit their independent operation for testing purposes.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, a press and a driving shaft for, actuating the same, an indicator connected with and actuatedfrom the shaft forindieating the time of operation ofthe press with relation to the rotation oftheshaft, in combination with means for disconnecting the press from the line shaftto permit independent operation of the press, and means actuated in suchindependent operation for indicating thatthe press is properly timed for connection to its driving shaft.

10. In an apparatus of the character specified, a line of presses adjusted for consecutive and successive operation in an .apportioned time cycle a line shaftfordriving' the presses as a unit, andibranch shafts connecting the line shaft with the presses, such branch shafts each being composed of wo sections, and a clutch for effecting their rotation as one-part, in combination with devices for indicating the relative timing of the presses with relation totheir driving shaft, such indicating devices comprising two rotating parts and connections from both sections of the branch shaft thereto, whereby the indicator parts ofeach press are rotatedin unison, andmeans for dis connecting the presses from the line driving shaft to permit their independent operation for testingpurposes.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name at Milwaukee, this 6th day of November, 1923.

RUDOLPH FURRER. 

